I Dare You
by Pyroluminescence
Summary: Heat. A warm mouth suffocating his thoughts away. Ragged, harsh breathing. He was lost to the goldeneyed divinity. “I dare you to tell me I love you.” [EdwardxRussell, lemon, yaoi, angst, some RussxFletcher hints]


**I Dare You**

**Pair: **EdxRussell, light RussellxFletcher content and even an Elricest hint! Whoopee!

**Warnings: **Lemon, yaoi… Blah blah blah, apologize if this is too heavy for ze Oh jeez… This is a cheetos content fic, guys – DANGEROUSLY CHEESY. …And angsty. My lemon-writing and angst-writing skills aren't up to par, I'm sure, so please go easy on any critique. xD I wrote this to satisfy the mad EdxRussell fan in me. I tried to keep both of them IC (which is fairly easy, both characters can get pretty "CRAWWWWLING IN MY SKIIIIIN" when they want to), but I am SURE I screwed up somewhere with that. xD Anyways, I sincerely hope this angsty literary masturbation doesn't kill anyone. …And if it does, I will have accomplished something. So yeah, on with the yaoi. :B

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There wasn't always going to be a warning. 

No clouds in the skies or witches on broomsticks where spontaneously blossoming forth in the awakening of the day. No, the worst of calamity always found its inception on those days when a warm breath of wind sent the aroma of newly grown life wafting through the air – when peace and prosperity reigned over trial and despair.

_Almost._

He was a man of plants. Their whole lives they lived, they breathed, and they ate until the day they died. They never once said a word. They never suffered; they never complained. His prized alchemic creations never blamed him when they wilted, and so he always blamed himself twice as hard. They passed no criticisms and thought nothing, yet they were as alive as he himself. Plants and growth were two things Xenotime had needed. The "false Elrics" happened to be connoisseurs of botanic alchemy.

Was it coincidence?

Or was it fate?

The real Edward had never been one to have believed in fate. But they shared one philosophy – that if it's meant to be, it would be, and hard work would be rewarded.

_Not a cloud in the sky…_

A text slam shut with a _whomph _(not at all a healthy sound for a book to make) and a cloud of dust freed itself to the air, only to settle back into the wood in a matter of moments.

He was tired. Tired, but not sleepy. His mind ached for rest – a breath of fresh air where all else was ratted and worn – but his body longed for motion. Something deep inside him hungered to live the life that the plants never could. Mobile, free, I alive /I .

"I thought I hated you," he said to no one, the fleeting memory of those golden eyes seeming to hulk over him in lieu of an oversized bookcase.

Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, had saved his life.

Equivalent Exchange – what had he given but a lead on the Stone and corrupting their identities?

He could give nothing back to the brothers, and so, he would never give Edward those words and hope Equivalency would give them back.

_Chains held on so loose… Just shake them free and you can fly._

He had Fletcher. A brother he loved with a passion he thought no one else could relate to until the day he met Edward and Alphonse.

Such a deadly sin. - To possess insatiable desire for one who bore his own blood. He and Fletcher lived for each other. They were damned, and the comfort came only when knowing that nothing closer to heaven existed.

A deadlier sin - To possess the same desire for yet another man besides his brother.

Was it greed? Or was he merely indecisive?

_Like a supernova. So bright it blinds you. Don't lose sight._

A small _click _created the domino effect of the scraping backwards of a chair, the rush to his feet, and the sound of homing, uneven footsteps.

"Long time no see, Fakey."

He loved Edward Elric. But he didn't posses anything remotely resembling _like _for the older boy.

"I take it you were too short to reach the knocker?"

A smirk. An insult to an insult. Equivalent Trade.

"There were rumors of your arrival. I wasn't expecting it. I've heard the same things over and over. But you're here."

"So I am. What's it to you?" Cocky. All attitude. The Fullmetal never took things lying down. They were all too much alike.

"I found I don't much like having my old acquaintances pop in on me after so much avoidance." Another smirk.

"Acquaintance? Feh. I may very well be the best friend you've got, Russ."

The only thing separating them was eight inches and hostility that would never die. "Yeah, you are."

A quick arm around the shoulders and a slap on the back. It was rather refreshing to be in non-violent contact with Edward.

"Glad to hear things are going well. It seems like you two have contributed a lot to this town." Idle talk. Chatter. He was just catching up.

"It's thanks to you. We'd be letting Mugear buy the nicest scented bath lotions if not for you and your brother."

"Yeah, yeah. How's your little brother doing?"

Russell shrugged, suddenly displaying great interest in the aged, dust-blanketed planks over his head. "Better than I. He's displaying a lot of alchemic skill. I know for sure he'll one day be my superior."

He wanted to smash Ed's face in for the resulting cocky grin.

"So, tell me, who's on top _outside _the lab?"

It was a cold feeling. He didn't much like it. Like something deep inside him was yearning to live the life of his passion – a cold, flowering plant with nothing to care for – and his body reacted accordingly. Shock. Tiny pinpricks of guilt. But the mask was still on. His voice was cool and fluid.

"I am, usually. What about you and Al?"

"He's a suit of armor. I'm doomed."

He realized, after all Edward had been through, it must have been difficult to take much anything so seemingly trivial in the vast expanse of the world seriously at all.

"I knew you'd never find a girl, Russ. They're scared by how tall you are."

He wasn't going to combat that one. No.

_Chains so heavy… Just shake them free and soar._

What was an awkward moment weight against a lifetime of patiently waiting, slumped at his desk, for the death of today and wondering if it was meant to be.

"No, I've just had romantic interests outside the ladies of Xenotime, thank you." Sharp and cool, belaying nothing. He was easing his mask, slowly, but not giving away a thing.

"Oh?"

His eyes are golden, like the days when gold was like a bounty of wealth, prosperity, and happiness.

"Yeah."

Eyes like the rain. Cold and stormy. With a silver lining to every raincloud glistening within them.

"Do you have to look at me like that, Russell?"

His voice was colder than anything. Suddenly lost, the plant alchemist stumbled for his words.

"Edward, I-" He lost his balance with no one to catch him.

Heat. A warm mouth suffocating his thoughts away. Ragged, harsh breathing. He was lost to the golden-eyed divinity.

"I dare you to tell me I love you." His tongue flicked Russell's ear as he spoke.

_But you don't, Edward._

The clattering and thunking of his materials rang out through the vacant study as a single swipe of an automail arm cleared the desk. Russell found himself upon it, shuddering and gasping under the smaller alchemist. Thin fingers pulled so tightly through the darker blonde's locks that the Fullmetal growled in pain – but didn't care either way. His tongue beat its way down the path of flesh made open from a hastily discarded shirt. It traced every single outline of his lean form, or so it seemed, when a simple touch ignited every inch of his flesh.

There wasn't any need for formalities. The thin red trails scourged into Edwards back were word enough. Russell cried out to the deepest capacity of his soul as a metallic hand and a rustle of clothing cleared the path to his groin, and the flesh hand took over to do what few before it had done.

"Edward… This…" There wasn't enough oxygen in the entire building to fill his lungs. Golden eyes belayed calmness.

"Shhh… Come on. I can't stay; this is all we can do." Again those lips silenced his matching, albeit bruised pair.

No. This isn't what he'd wanted. Not beyond the confines of his body, at least. But where was he…? To even think about falling in love with the Fullmetal Alchemist…?

_No warning… He's breaking you. You couldn't have known._

It was Russell's hands that unclothed his newfound lover. His movements were clumsy and clouded with lust. But he willed himself to be lost to Edward, if only for tonight.

"You sure you want this?" It was amazing Ed had the composure to ask. In the faint illumination from a single lantern, his body shown with a fresh sheen of sweat, mirroring Russell's. Their bodies wracked with every breath.

"No. But God, just _fuck me…_" His hands desperately worked at Edward's length, drawing a high-pitched cry that seemed to confirm their desires as unanimous.

"Russ… Stop that for a sec…" It wasn't a request easily granted, but it was a necessary one. Sprawled out on the desk in front of the Fullmetal, Russell groaned impatiently, sure that his arousal was going to kill him. He would have welcomed it, for how much it hurt.

He'd expected Ed's initial finger-test entrance to hurt, too. But Russell didn't so much as bite his lip. He'd felt guilty enough for how many times he'd made Fletcher cry out in pain, and no matter how much his brother thought it was worth it, he would never let Edward bear that guilt.

A second finger. He grit his teeth. It felt strange, having something forgein so deep inside him, yet he felt so complete, as though Edwards actions, defying all natural biology as they might be, were somehow filling him somehow outside of the literal sense.

A third. He unintentionally flashed Edward a white knuckled warning. The pain was there for both of them, so to speak. Edward was barely propped up on his automail arm, gritting his teeth from the combined pain of Russell's fingernails and his abandoned arousal.

"Move, would you?" Russell grumbled impatiently. He willed for this to be over. To have been ravished by Edward and been able to fall asleep convincing himself he'd been raped, and wake up not bound at every limb by his feelings for the Fullmetal. If it hurt, then all the better.

_Nothing's here to tell you your heart is going to break…_

Edward complied, sending Russell into another shrieking fit of half-agony, half-ecstasy.

"You like it?" Ed rasped in his ear.

"I like…"

"What do you like?" It was almost sadistic.

"I …Like your fing…ers…" Russell managed between gasps of breath.

Russell's own shaking hand dipped between Ed's legs, and with a nod of consent, a single digit drove its way into Edward's warmth.

Equivalent Exchange?

…Or was it just that feeling Edward in such a deeply intimate way felt so deeply incredible that he didn't care about anything else?

"Ngh… Russ… Let me have you…"

He was begging, though it'd have been hard to say no.

"I'm yours."

The following cries and whimpers were drown out almost entirely by Edward's mouth. His earlier preparation had hurt, yes, but Ed's fingers weren't moving as fast as a piston in an engine. Or at least, that's how it seemed, when the combined efforts of the Fullmetal's hips and hand drove the entire situation to reach absolute velocity.

It was almost eerie, how silent the world around them had become. Not that either was noticing; caught up only in the maddening pace of the other's movements. Time didn't stop; there were no fireworks, no tubas and drums to offset the already busy scene in their minds. Their thoughts had no coherency, but their motions were such that neither, had they possessed the mind to, would have cared the situation only paved the path to sadness.

_The heat… You're too caught up in the moment…_

They willed for it to last, for their maddeningly fast pace – product of lust and impatience both – to have been for something.

A cry caught up in Russell's throat. His body, seemingly flushed to the tip of every extremity, tightened and convulsed, as though the pressure, heat, and _ache _plaguing him had filled an invisible meter, and he could take no more. Not a single cell in his entire anatomy seemed to neglect participation in his orgasm, or so it seemed when he felt, for the first time, like his body was both hundreds of miles from him and yet imprisoned him so inequitably.

_The world may never know._

"Russell…"

How long had it been? Had he fallen asleep? No, it hadn't been long. His breath was still ragged and uneven, a pace to match Edward's.

"Why…?" It was the least he could do to ask. He neglected to remove his fingers, still buried painfully inside Edward. He tried not to think of how his earlier thrashing had done a number on Ed's own insides. That was Equivalency for you.

"Russ… I told you, I can't stay long."

"That's no reason…" Tears that had refused to come during the physical pain. The mask was broken. He only found gratitude in knowing Fletcher wasn't there to see them. "You don't feel this way about me, Ed… So why just fuck me and run?! Is that really a step above talking this through? You think this doesn't matter?!" His sex-induced fatigue was wearing off, and only the knowledge that he'd lead himself to be breathless again kept him from ranting on.

Edward gave him a sad, yet meaningful smile. "I'm sorry, Russ. Who can say for sure? Given the chance, I would have stayed with you."

"Liar." It was an accusation without warrant, but Russell possessed neither the state of mind nor the initiative to justify his growing fury.

He regretted it.

"Edward…"

_You should have known all along._

"Just don't go…"

He'd already said all that needed to be said. Were it not for his anger, Russell would have – no, he did want to hear more. Anything from Edward besides the forced removal of Russell's predictably blood-smeared fingers, the rustle of cloth as he replaced his clothing and boots, and his uneven footsteps as he made his exit.

"We'll see each again, I'm sure."

And with that, Edward left Russell feeling as alone and helpless as he was the days before he'd entered the plant alchemist's life.

"Damn you!" His fist collided with a nearby shelf, which stood unwavering under his blow. He longed to be able to stand up to Edward like that, with only a gaze of stone and an uncaring mind as he cleaned himself up and retired to bed. But no, he had found something that could tear up any and all delusion that, no matter the situation, he could stay strong. Even when faced with the knowledge of his father's _death, _he had _never_…

"Damn you, Edward!" He cried out once more, unwilling to stand up, brush himself off, and stand firm in the face of a broken heart. After all, how could he…?

"You can't go! Not when you're the only one who could make _such _a mess of me!"

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::spits out drink:: Wow. I have NO IDEA how I survived writing that. …Coffee and cheetos, mayhaps::blinkblink:: Anyways, I apologize for all the inconsistencies, cheetos content, boring buttsecks, bad ending, and general emo-ness. XDD It was a bit fun, yeah, but I am teh fail. xO And LEAVE ME REVIEWS OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN. xDDD …I have done that before. ::shifty eyes, scurries away:: 


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